Cambridge Elementary named Blue Ribbon school
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By David Heitz | Tuesday, October 17, 2006 |
CAMBRIDGE, Ill. — Cambridge Elementary School has been designated a Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education, one of only 242 schools nationwide to earn the honor.
The school was nominated for the award by the state, based on the last five years’ Illinois Standards Achievement Test results. After being nominated, the school went through a lengthy application process to assess its programs and its successes.
Principal Shelly Logston attributed the school’s performance to a low student-teacher ratio of about 15 to one. She also pointed to its efforts to reach out to families with newborns to 3 years old to get them acquainted with the school long before the children become students. She said a teacher visits the families’ homes, bringing homemade pies and books about a child’s early years.
The program is funded through a grant from the state.
Families come in three days a week, usually mothers and their children. The children participate in play groups and parents meet to talk about issues and problems with parenting and to get advice from other parents. In the play groups, play stations center around various themes.
“It’s definitely family centered,” Logston said. “In the past, some families may have had negative feelings about a school situation or their education. We want to put all those evils to rest and let parents know that at Cambridge, things are different, and we want them to be a part of us.”
This was the school’s first time to be nominated, and it will have to wait five years to be nominated again.
Logston and a teacher will travel to Washington, D.C., to receive the award and present a program on the school’s bullying prevention plan.
The program began five years ago to teach students about bullying and encourage them to take an active role in preventing it.
“The kids know what bullying is, they know the difference between bullying and tattling,” Logston said. “We teach them to no longer be bystanders but to stand up for what’s right if they see bullying.”
The school has a coordinator that goes into the classroom for 30 minutes per week. The coordinator also supervises lunch and recess. “She sees the kids in an environment in which they tend to have problems.”
Every classroom has a bully box. If there’s a situation occurring, or if a student feels they’re being bullied, they place a card about the incident in the bully box and it is discussed. “Everybody sits on the floor in a circle and they talk about situations that have come up throughout the week. They talk about what could have been done differently.”
In the sixth grade, detentions have dropped by 78 percent. Office referrals are next to none.
“That’s because the kids are taking care of their own situation, calling it what it is and standing up for one another,” Logston said. “We educated our entire staff. This is a program that custodians use, cooks, bus drivers, and it has really gone into the community as well. It has made a huge impact.”
David Heitz can be contacted at (563) 383-2202 or dheitz@qctimes.com.
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